Women On An Adventure:
The Column on Family Outings in The Lone Star State by Jasmine Leigh Richmond
Howdy, y'all! Ah, summertime, the time for adventures! Of course, my
sister, niece and I had several adventures this past summer. I will write
about one now and save some for next
issue!
This adventure takes place in my hometown of Dallas, Texas, so I knew
my way around even better than I do in places that I haven't been to as much
like San Antonio. This was lucky, since my dad gave us the wrong directions
to the zoo. I used my famous navigational skills and got us to the Dallas
Zoo with no trouble.
We found a parking space near the Lone Star Picnic Area and made our
way to the entrance. After a stop at the gift shop for a camera and a hat
for my niece, Mimosa, who needs mucho sun protection, we headed off to the
Children's Zoo. This was a new part of the zoo that had been widely
advertised and one we had looked forward to taking Mimosa to see, but it
turned out that it wasn't that different from any other petting zoo. We got
to pet and brush and feed some farm animals, but soon moved on to the Wilds
of Africa part of the zoo.
This part of the zoo is very worth it. It is full of amazing open
habitats for African animals that roam pretty much freely over lots and lots
of area. We headed straight off to see the gorillas. They, along with all
other primates, are my favorite animals. We watched through observation
windows along the trail and we even got to see a gorilla toddler. Then we
went to the Gorilla Learning Center to find out a little more about them.
Gorillas nurse their babies for two to three years according to the
information there. They also often have good relationships with their
aunts. We had a hard time seeing the chimps because they were eating but we
caught a few glimpses. They nurse their babies for four to seven years and
share 99% of our DNA. See a pattern here?
We also saw some birds and other neat African animals. We got a snack
and ate it while we waited for the last monorail ride of the day, then got
on the monorail. The monorail takes you all over the zoo. It shows you
lots of animals, informs you about the animals and allows you to take very
good pictures. It was Mimosa's favorite part of the zoo trip.
After the monorail ride, we left the zoo and stopped at a restaurant
for fancy French desserts before heading home. It was a very exciting and
tiring day!
That's all for now. Check out the next Lone Star Ma to find out about
what the Women On An Adventure did on the next day!
Jasmine is 13 years old and obviously destined for greatness. In addition
to being the best Auntie in the known universe at this printing, she is also
active in Girl Scouting and a wide variety of sports. She is a ham radio
operator and a member of the National Junior Honors Society.
Women On An Adventure:
The Column on Family Outings in The Lone Star State by Jasmine Leigh Richmond
Yes, I am back to tell you about yet another
women on an adventure story.
This one starts in San Antonio, Texas on June 8, 2002.
We are on our way to Austin to meet up with my Mom,
and my other big sister, Sarah, but just can't pass up
another chance to see the river walk. So, yet again,
the GREAT Auntie Jazz navigated us off the highway, to
the parking lot, through the mall, and onto the river
to our restaurant. We ate, fed the ducks (and birds),
looked around, and got dessert. Then I navigated us
back to the highway!
Next, we went to Austin and met Sarah and Mom.
Well, we (LSM, Mimosa, and I) wanted to go to the
Inner Space Caverns in Georgetown but Mom and Sarah
wanted to go shopping in San Marcos. We each went our
separate ways and promised to met again for dinner in
Austin.
Well, we got to the caverns just in time for
one of the last tours. We had a great time. We took
a cable car down to the cave and then went on a
walking tour. We learned all kinds of interesting
facts and had fun learning them! Inner Space Caverns
is the most recently discovered of the Texas caves.
It was discovered when the Texas Department of
Transportation was taking core samples to see if the
land would support Interstate 35, and now part of it
runs right under the highway!
After the tour, we got back to the surface and
bought some stuff from the gift shop and hit the road
back to Austin. Mom and Sarah weren't ready to leave
the outlet malls, so we decided to go see the bats.
In case you didn't know, there is a huge maternity
colony of bats under the Congress Avenue Bridge in
Austin. Bats fly out from under the bridge to hunt
every night during the part of the year that they live
there, from March through November. Well, the bats
decided to be really late on this particular night, so
we had to leave to meet up with Sarah and Mom before
their flight.
We found a place to eat that was open at 10PM
(Kirby Lane) and went to it. We ate while Mimosa
mostly slept. Then, we went back to the motel and
turned in for the night. The next morning we said our
good-byes as LSM and Mimosa went home to Corpus
Christi and Sarah, Mom, and I went back home to
Dallas.
That's it for this adventure, but I'll write
again about our next one. So remember: go on
adventures with the women in your family. Bond and
grow closer together.
Jasmine is 13 years old and obviously destined for
greatness. In addition to being the best Auntie in
the known universe at this printing, she is also
active in Girl Scouting and a wide variety of sports.
She is a ham radio operator and a member of the
National Junior Honors Society.
Lone Star Ma
P.O. Box 3096
Corpus Christi, Texas 78463-3096
